For some time now - since before the Democratic and Republican conventions - U.S. intelligence officials have been briefing the Democratic and Republican candidates for president on some of the most pressing issues, such as terrorism, that the winner of the Nov. 4 election will confront.

   And whoever the winner is will be given the intelligence community's most secret briefing, the one that President Bush receives every morning, beginning on Nov. 5.

   Director of National Intelligence Michael McConnell told a public symposium in Nashville on Oct. 30 that the intelligence briefings for Sens. John McCain, R-AZ, and Barack Obama, D-Ill, have been part of an official transition process approved by the Bush administration that has also included briefings for their campaigns.

   "What we proposed to the administration is give us the opportunity to tee up intelligence substance to the leading campaigns before the conventions. We came up with 13 topics. If you made a list, you'd probably get 11 or 12 of the 13. It's the normal thing you would expect," he told the gathering sponsored by the U.S. Geospatial Intelligence Foundation, an industry and promotional organization.

   "Our proposal beyond campaigns was we would like to brief the candidates at every opportunity at the time and place of their choosing. We have done so," McConnell continued. "Most of the focus has been on terrorism and a few related topical issues."

   "The third part of it is once we have a President-elect next Tuesday, we will there for the full PDB (President's Daily Briefing) to include not only intelligence substance but all the background and what we do and how we do it."

   Talk about hitting the ground running . . .